Sue Hegwood Howel, 89, of Rome, died Wednesday November 23, 2022 at AdventHealth Gordon. Mrs. Howel was born in Naomi, Georgia on September 11, 1933, the daughter of the late Horace Shields Hegwood and Ethel Drewel Williams. The fifth of seven children, she grew up in eastern Walker County during the Great Depression. Her love of music began at an early age and she sang soprano in a quartet with her beloved sisters at church and community functions. She learned to play the piano and occasionally accompanied the Hegwood Sisters Quartet. She graduated from Lafayette High School and went on to attend Berry College.
Mrs. Howel loved Berry College. While a student at Berry, she worked in the sewing department making student uniforms, sang with the Berry Singers and the Concert Choir, and served as a pianist for two years. She graduated from Berry with a Bachelor of Science Degree in elementary education with a focus in history. After graduation, she began her teaching career at Alto Park Elementary School. She continued to support Berry College throughout her life as a member of the Daughters of Berry.
Through a young singles group at the First Methodist Church, Mrs. Howel met and in 1960 married John Gordon “Jack” Howel, to whom she was married for almost 48 years until his death in April 2008. Mrs. Howel taught elementary school for a number of years before becoming a homemaker in the mid- 1960s after the arrival of their two children. She was a member of the Rome Federated Women’s Club. Through this organization, she won numerous awards for her leadership and contributions in the fields of home, church, civic, and community activities including being the Floyd County Homemaker of the Year in 1973. She was an excellent seamstress and made most of her own clothes as well as those of her daughter. She also loved sewing clothes for her grandchildren and made dozens of outfits for them.
Mrs. Howel sang for many years as part of Rome’s Three Rivers Singers and was also a devoted member of P.E.O. She resumed her teaching career in the late 1970s and eventually retired from Pepperell Elementary after having taught for 20 years. Following her retirement, she joined the Floyd-Rome Retired Educators Association, supporting local students with scholarships.
Mrs. Howel was a life-long Christian and a devoted church goer. During the depression, she attended the nearest church she could walk to – Naomi Baptist Church - and was baptized there in a nearby creek. After she was married, she and Jack joined First Presbyterian Church where she sang in the chancel choir, played handbells, and was co-chairman of the Women’s Circle. She later moved her membership to Westminster Presbyterian Church where she continued to sing and serve on various committees.
Throughout her experiences in education, work, singing, and club memberships, Mrs. Howel developed a circle of life-long friends who were very dear to her. From progressive New Year’s Eve dinners, to vacations together, luncheons, and all sorts of parties and projects, Sue and Jack and their friends were always on the go.
Family was always central to Mrs. Howel’s life. She and her sisters headed up family trips and vacations, annual reunions, and holiday gatherings that became family traditions for nearly 70 years. She also helped compile and edit a book of family history and stories from her siblings and their children. Mrs. Howel’s grandchildren were the joy of her life and she was thrilled beyond words when her first great-grandchild arrived this year.
Mrs. Howel is survived by her children Carol Howel Gomez and son-in-law David of Calhoun and Hugh Gordon Howel of Rome, and her beloved grandchildren Andrew David Gomez (m. Kristin née Hamby) and precious new great-granddaughter Ava Blair Gomez, Melissa Gomez Walker (m. Elliott Walker), Rachel Gomez, Catherine Leigh Howel and William Gordon Howel.
The family will receive friends at Daniel’s Funeral Home on Friday December 2, 2022 from 5pm to 7 pm. Funeral services will be held on Saturday December 3, 2022 at Westminster Presbyterian Church with Rev. Dr. Renee Meyer officiating. Interment will follow in the Sunset Hill Memorial Gardens in Rome. Pallbearers are Andrew Gomez, Will Howel, Elliott Walker, Kirk Hegwood, Andy Pilgrim, and Ashley Hancock. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rome
or the American Cancer Society.
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